“Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.
Graphic novels tell a story in a unique way. The use of text and pictorial images make graphic novels different than other media
texts. The tactic of using two distinct forms in story telling appeal to many readers which result in sales of comics throughout the world. One
of the informed figures in this art work is McCloud. I referred to his comic, Understanding Comics: The invisible Art to derive my own creation
of the comic named “Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.
Comics usually focus on the world of fantasy, but my comic is more towards the human interaction and my real life experience with
my family. I want to make this piece entertaining, yet, informative for people who are not brown, who have little to no idea what a brown person
goes through every day. For instance, I aim to show the 'brown' routine of a simple task such as having dinner with your family. In this comic
piece, I am showing a scene where I am simply comparing the steps that are to be completed by a white person and a brown person when
having dinner.
In the first part, the story deals with a character, Amanda, who sits in her room, studying McCloud, Understanding the Comic.
Steps completed by an average white person:
Hear the voice, “Food is ready”.
Walk down the stairs and sit on a table
Eat food
Wash their own dishes and leave.
The second part of the story deals with the character named Sana; she sits in her room and the steps she has to complete are ridiculous.
Steps completed by a Brown person (or at least me):
Hear the fire/smoke alarm
Run at the speed of light
Find a chair and a towel
Have the strength and be ready
Pull the freaking fire/smoke alarm so it stops beeping
Calmly come and have a seat. DO NOT COMPLAIN!
Eat, and wait for everyone to be done with their food
Clean the whole table, wash dishes, clean the kitchen, make tea for everyone, and serve it. After everyone is done with the tea, wash dishes again and spend some quality time with family.
Its 12am, so she has missed the assignment which was due at 11:59pm
Well….. “Sana clearly cannot manage time properly…” is what she will get to hear if she complains about the work she had to do.
I wanted to make this comic applicable to as many people as it can be. So I choose this story. People who are brown can relate
to it, and who are non-brown can be thankful that they cannot relate to it. Also, it is my way of telling professors to give extra time to brown
students, because this is what they go through on a daily basis. Moreover, to distinguish between the two characters and stories, I have made
them of a different skin colour.
The layout of this story is quiet simple. The progression of the story is from left to right, followed by the next row of panels. I
followed what McCloud has said, that there are various action-to-action and subject-to-subject transitions (McCloud 47,70-72). The aesthetic
style is simple; it is a “Zoom Out” layout, where the reader can see the whole picture. Only the last panel is different than others as it
focuses on the expression on the character's face, Sana, rather than the background (whole picture). I did this because I am heavily influenced
by the illustrations done by Fabid Celooni and Mirka Andole for the novel “The Kite Runner”. The way they portray the characters, the
face expressions, and the distance from the camera help the reader to zoom in and zoom out when needed.
The detail and the material within the panel give the idea as to where the story is taking place. Some frames contain more
intricate drawings whereas some are simply plain, mostly containing the characters expressions. I did this because of the humour I wanted to
create for the reader. We can see this when I did the close up of Sana’s face.
I decide to use the color as it creates more detail to the surrounding. I use a grey tone, and avoid the use of bright colors as it
can cause distraction as McClooud points out that the colour may distract the reader from the focus of the comic. I agree with his statement
but I did not completely forgo his idea and used light colours to create more drama to the comic. As per my own experience, I read “The Kite
Runner” comic and was more drawn to the characters as I could see the environment and the surrounding. The colors made a major impact on
my mood and thinking style or process.
Overall, the comic gives off an air of simplicity and informs the reader what goes around in a brown house VS a non-brown
house. It also gives an opportunity for non-brown people to be thankful that they are not brown. Understanding Comic: The Invisible Art and The
Kite Runner contain the visual and textual concepts which I have used in my comic. The more I correlate the elements of both texts, the
easier it was for me to conceptualize a comic like, Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.
Second Comic Link: http://Pixton.com/ic:4stm14ew
“Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.
Graphic novels tell a story in a unique way. The use of text and pictorial images make graphic novels different than other media
texts. The tactic of using two distinct forms in story telling appeal to many readers which result in sales of comics throughout the world. One
of the informed figures in this art work is McCloud. I referred to his comic, Understanding Comics: The invisible Art to derive my own creation
of the comic named “Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.
Comics usually focus on the world of fantasy, but my comic is more towards the human interaction and my real life experience with
my family. I want to make this piece entertaining, yet, informative for people who are not brown, who have little to no idea what a brown person
goes through every day. For instance, I aim to show the 'brown' routine of a simple task such as having dinner with your family. In this comic
piece, I am showing a scene where I am simply comparing the steps that are to be completed by a white person and a brown person when
having dinner.
In the first part, the story deals with a character, Amanda, who sits in her room, studying McCloud, Understanding the Comic.
Steps completed by an average white person:
The second part of the story deals with the character named Sana; she sits in her room and the steps she has to complete are ridiculous.
Steps completed by a Brown person (or at least me):
I wanted to make this comic applicable to as many people as it can be. So I choose this story. People who are brown can relate
to it, and who are non-brown can be thankful that they cannot relate to it. Also, it is my way of telling professors to give extra time to brown
students, because this is what they go through on a daily basis. Moreover, to distinguish between the two characters and stories, I have made
them of a different skin colour.
The layout of this story is quiet simple. The progression of the story is from left to right, followed by the next row of panels. I
followed what McCloud has said, that there are various action-to-action and subject-to-subject transitions (McCloud 47,70-72). The aesthetic
style is simple; it is a “Zoom Out” layout, where the reader can see the whole picture. Only the last panel is different than others as it
focuses on the expression on the character's face, Sana, rather than the background (whole picture). I did this because I am heavily influenced
by the illustrations done by Fabid Celooni and Mirka Andole for the novel “The Kite Runner”. The way they portray the characters, the
face expressions, and the distance from the camera help the reader to zoom in and zoom out when needed.
The detail and the material within the panel give the idea as to where the story is taking place. Some frames contain more
intricate drawings whereas some are simply plain, mostly containing the characters expressions. I did this because of the humour I wanted to
create for the reader. We can see this when I did the close up of Sana’s face.
I decide to use the color as it creates more detail to the surrounding. I use a grey tone, and avoid the use of bright colors as it
can cause distraction as McClooud points out that the colour may distract the reader from the focus of the comic. I agree with his statement
but I did not completely forgo his idea and used light colours to create more drama to the comic. As per my own experience, I read “The Kite
Runner” comic and was more drawn to the characters as I could see the environment and the surrounding. The colors made a major impact on
my mood and thinking style or process.
Overall, the comic gives off an air of simplicity and informs the reader what goes around in a brown house VS a non-brown
house. It also gives an opportunity for non-brown people to be thankful that they are not brown. Understanding Comic: The Invisible Art and The
Kite Runner contain the visual and textual concepts which I have used in my comic. The more I correlate the elements of both texts, the
easier it was for me to conceptualize a comic like, Why brown students should get extra time for assignments”.